Introduction
This paper discusses how the social class position in the society is attained. The paper explains how a lawyer as a professional person attains a social class in the society. This is based on Weber’s attributes of social class and stratification that encompass power, prestige, and wealth. The paper also expounds on the key social positioning attributes for a lawyer in the society.
Power and social class position
According to Weber, power is the ability of any given individual to exercise his or her own will, in spite of opposition from other people. Weber observes that power is one of the most desirable attributes for most people in the society, yet it can be hardly attained. However, it should be noted that the levels at which people attain and exercise power differ. This is why power is classified into two; soft power and hard power (Andersen and Taylor 212). More often than not, people who are professionals in the most demanding fields in the society are often in a better position to attain soft power. This, in turn, can be the key to accessing hard power. Law is one of the most demanding and respectable fields of professionalism in the world. Therefore, a lawyer as a professional person automatically attains respect from the society. A lawyer is in a better position to influence the course of events. Contrary to most people who use material resource to attain power and climb the social ladder, lawyers use the value that is attached to their profession (prestige) to climb the social ladder (Kendall 225-226).
Prestige and social position
According to Kendall (225), the society attributes honor to certain values and achievements that are made by individuals in the society. Therefore, prestige is something that can be individually earned or attained by the virtue of what the society believes in. For example, the society attaches a lot of value to certain professions in the society. Law is one of the professions that are highly valued in the society. Therefore, any person who pursues and attains qualifications in this profession is highly regarded in the society. This puts the person on a higher social scale compared to people who pursue other professions that are not highly regarded in the society. Therefore, the attachment of prestige to professions makes lawyers to be highly respected by most people in the society. This places lawyers on a higher social ladder (Ross 18). The more a person exerts influence in the profession, the more he or she is bound to climb the social ladder further (Andersen and Taylor 212).
Wealth and social class position
Wealth is the material resource that is accumulated by an individual, which in turn makes the individual to be more influential in the society. Therefore, the acquisition and control of the vast amount of resources in the society place a person on a higher rank than other people who have less or no resources. However, it should be noted that wealth is not only measured in terms of material resources, but it is also looked at in terms of intellectual resources. This brings in the issue of profession. A lawyer may not have a lot of material resources, yet he or she can still be placed on the same or higher social scale than the person who is endowed with the material resources just because of his intellectual ability to make vital legal determinations. Moreover, it is easy for one to bridge on a given attribute to climb up the social ladder. This is what Weber refers to as social mobility. Borrowing from this, it can be argued that the value that is attached to the law profession by the society puts lawyers in a better position when it comes to the accumulation of material resources. This makes lawyers wealthy and more influential (Kendall 225-226).
Key attributes of social positioning for a lawyer
What matters the most for a lawyer as a profession is the broadness with which the society views this profession. Law is one of the most essential components in maintaining order by checking all manners of breaches to bring order in the society. Therefore, prestige is one of the most important things in the definition of the social class for the lawyer. Prestige comes out as a form of soft power in the sense that the lawyer becomes famous owing to his track record in successfully defending people and winning cases. Such a lawyer gains the attention of many people in the society who seek for his services as far as legal and judicial issues are concerned. Thus, the lawyer gains wealth by way of being in a position to render legal services at a higher fee because of the high demand for his or her services. It is easy to attain a higher level of control and decision making in the society if one is wealthy. This denotes power and superiority to some extent (Ross 18).
Conclusion
The discussion in the paper denotes that the beliefs and practices of the society are critical in giving value to people. Therefore, changes that are taking place in the society are likely to result in changes in the way value and social status are attained by people in the society.
Works Cited
Andersen, Margaret L., and Howard F. Taylor. Sociology: Understanding a Diverse Society. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2008. Print.
Kendall, Diana E. Sociology in Our Times. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2013. Print.
Ross, Hamish. Law as a Social Institution. Oxford: Hart Publishers, 2001. Print.